About

Manual use of mythfilldatabase

Command Line Options

--manual

Run in manual channel configuration mode
This will ask you questions about every channel

--update

For running non-destructive updates on the database for
users in xmltv zones that do not provide channel data
For example, to update two datasources with a single xmltv file, use :
mythfilldatabase --update --file 1 -1 tvguide.xml
mythfilldatabase --update --file 2 -1 tvguide.xml
See below for help about --file.

--preset

Use it in case that you want to assign a preset number for
each channel, useful for non US countries where people
are used to assigning a sequenced number for each channel, i.e.:
1->TVE1(S41), 2->La 2(SE18), 3->TV3(21), 4->Canal 33(60)...

--no-delete

Do not delete old programs from the database until 7 days old.

--file <sourceid> <offset> <xmlfile>

Bypass the grabbers and read data directly from a file
<sourceid> = number for the video source to use with this file
<offset> = days from today that xmlfile defines
(-1 means to replace all data, up to 10 days)
<xmlfile> = file to read

(--manual flag works in combination with this)
Read channels as defined in xawtvrc file given
<sourceid> = cardinput
<xawtvrcfile> = file to read

--do_channel_updates

When using DataDirect, ask mythfilldatabase to
overwrite channel names, frequencies, etc. with the
values available from the data source. This will
override custom channel names, which is why it is
off by default.
This may manage to fix a corrupted channel lineup.

--remove-new-channels

When using DataDirect, ask mythfilldatabase to
remove new channels (those not in the database)
from the DataDirect lineup. These channels are
removed from the lineup as if you had done so
via the DataDirect website's Lineup Wizard, but
may be re-added manually and incorporated into
MythTV by running mythfilldatabase without this
option. New channels are automatically removed
for DVB and HDTV sources that use DataDirect.

--graboptions <"options">

Pass options to grabber

--sourceid <number>

Only refresh data for sourceid given

--max-days <number>

Force the maximum number of days, counting today,
for the grabber to check for future listings

--only-update-channels

Get as little listings data as possible to update channels

--refresh-today

--refresh-second

--refresh-all

(Only valid for grabbers: DataDirect, se_swedb, no, ee, de_tvtoday)
Force a refresh today or two days (or every day) from now,
to catch the latest changes.
These may be used to attempt to fix corrupted program guide data.

--dont-refresh-tomorrow

Tomorrow will always be refreshed unless this argument is used

--dont-refresh-tba

"To be announced" programs will always be refreshed
unless this argument is used

--export-icon-map [<filename>]

Exports your current icon map to <filename> (default: iconmap.xml)

--import-icon-map [<filename>]

Imports an icon map from <filename> (default: iconmap.xml)

--update-icon-map

Updates icon map icons only

--reset-icon-map [all]

Resets your icon map (pass all to reset channel icons as well)

--mark-repeats

Marks any programs with a OriginalAirDate earlier
than their start date as a repeat

-v or --verbose debug-level

Use '-v help' for level info

--help

This text

--manual and --update can not be used together.

External XMLTV

If you are in a country where mythfilldatabase will not work the normal way you will need to use the --file flag (e.g. XMLTV does not have a grabber included, or the grabber options are not fully supported by MythTV).

1. Obtain xml file of tv guide

Here in Belgium, I use pytvgrab to get my tv guide and output to an xml file:

2. Find out the source id of your card

This is normally '1' if you have only one input card, but it is best to check it out because I have found if I have run mythtv setup more than once it can end up being something other than 1. To check, you need to look at the database:

3. Run mythfilldatabase with the --file flag

The -1 means to replace all data, belgium.xml is the file name for the output of the grabber as above:

$ mythfilldatabase --file <sourceid> -1 belgium.xml

The first time you will need to use the --manual flag, but this is better explained on the XmlTv page.

Troubleshooting

1. LinkSys or Fedora Core

I spent the past 3 weeks trying to troubleshoot a problem I was having with mythfilldatabase. I would run it and it would download between 5K and 3K and then just timeout. If I tried downloading the NVidia drivers, the nVidia page would not even come up.

Note from a network techie.... Please be aware that disabling tcp window scaling has a system wide impact and will probably result in much slower bulk transfer speeds. Just thought you should be aware.